


Black Tie

by i_paint_the_sky



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Drastic Measures compliant, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-27 15:19:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15688092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_paint_the_sky/pseuds/i_paint_the_sky
Summary: Katrina and Gabriel run into each other at the launch party for the USS Constitution (NCC-1700).





	Black Tie

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [LizBee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizBee/pseuds/LizBee) in the [july2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/july2018) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> Fancy. Starfleet. Party. And Kat and Gabriel are definitely just good friends and extremely professional, and not flirting over canapes. 
> 
> Beyond that concept, it's up to you. Pre-series Dr Cornwell and Lieutenant Commander Lorca? Post-series-let's-just-handwave-how-Gabriel-got-back-from-the-mirrorverse-but-let's-assume-he's-messed-up-deep-down? Whatever your heart desires.

Gabriel couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Katrina in a dress. Sometime during their Academy days, to be sure. For the last decade, it had been uniforms and uniforms and more uniforms. And she looked good in the blue and gold, but so much better in red silk and lace.

He wasn’t the only one appreciating the rare dress code for the evening. Katrina gave him a definite once over as she approached, two glasses of champagne in hand. “See anything you like?” he asked, grinning.

“Yes,” she told him, handing over a glass, “the _ship_ is amazing.”

He chuckled. “That she is. With these, the final frontier is at our fingertips.”

“Nice line,” she said with a smile, “did you come prepared with that alliteration?”

“I’m always prepared to impress.”

“Don’t I know it.”

He missed his chance to make another smart comment when an Andorian addressed those gathered in room. “Welcome to the USS _Constitution_. I am Ensign Garr and I will be escorting you around the ship today. Please let me know if you have any questions. Right now, we’re in one of the many recreation rooms found onboard…”

The ensign turned tour guide kept talking but Gabriel found his mind wandering already. He’d always been a kinesthetic learner, an avid doer rather than a listener. Katrina, on the other hand, was a very careful listener, as fitting for a psychologist. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “What do you say we go rogue and check things out for ourselves?”

She waited until a pause in the ensign’s spiel before replying. “I wouldn’t want to miss the tour. What if I have a question?”

He smirked. “Come on, Kat, I know you read the full schematics of this ship, just like I did. I doubt there’s much about her that one of us doesn’t already know.”

She shook her head slowly but she was smiling and he knew she was going to come with him. They waited until the main group filed out of the rec room. When the rest of them went right, he and Katrina turned left.

“How’s the _Helios_ ,” she asked as they wandered down the hall, getting their bearings.

“It’s a good ship,” he said, with a slight shrug.

“But …”

“But I’m getting restless,” he admitted; there was no point in trying to hide anything from her. “No matter how good a ship Helios is, it’s not going to be enough, not for me. I want to be more than chief of security.”

“I recall your grand plans.” She stopped walking, turning to look at him carefully. “So, what do you intend to do next?”

He stopped too, leaning against the wall. “I’m not sure yet. But I’ve spoken to Captain Matuzas and he has some ideas. But enough about that, how’s your team?”

She raised an eyebrow. “It's going well, growing all the time and keeping me busy. Not quite busy enough to fall for that rather poor attempt at changing the subject.”

He took a step forward, closing the distance between them. “How about this then ... have I told you yet how much I like your dress?”

She smiled and ran a hand down his suit sleeve. “You don’t look so bad yourself.” She pressed her lips against his just for a moment. “Now let’s get going,” she said, pulling away. “Engineering should be just this way.”

He followed her further down the hallway. “You know,” he said after a moment, “as a security officer, it's my responsibility to be aware of any locations on a ship where an intruder could hide. Or perhaps multiple intruders.”

“Are you really suggesting that we spend our first chance on a Constitution-class squeezed together in some nook or cranny?”

“Are you turning me down?”

She looked back at him over her shoulder. “No.”

“Then I am absolutely suggesting just that.”

They reached engineering before anything else could be said and he had to admit, he was interested in seeing it. These ships were the fastest Starfleet had ever made, able to reach warp 8. It was an incredible feat of engineering, enough that even non-engineers like himself had to be impressed.

There was another tour group in the room when they entered. This group included two men who were arguing with each other and completely ignoring whatever their guide was trying to say. Not that Gabriel could blame them.

“Of course it’s impressive,” one of the men said, “but using the mycelial network would make this whole thing obsolete.”

“If we ever get it working.”

“Maybe you have doubts but I certainly don’t.”

Gabriel turned his attention back to Katrina and, with a smile, looked around the room. Definitely no private places here, not that he’d be expecting any. She caught him looking and smiled back, eyes sparkling. “Shall we move on?”

They continued exploring the ship, marvelling at the design that let it explore the far reaches of space without having to make regular stops to resupply. It was a mission out of his childhood dreams.

Finally, they reached the crown jewel of the tour: the bridge. Shockingly, they were the only ones there when they arrived. “We must have found the sweet spot between tour groups,” he muttered, looking around.

Katrina made her way almost immediately to the captain’s chair and sat down. “How’s the view?” he called out.

“Best seat in the house,” she replied, settling in. It was a reminder - not that he needed one - that her ambitions ran just as deep as his did. He walked around the bridge, coming to a halt to stand in front of her.

“Looks pretty from here too,” he murmured, before kneeling in front of her and leaning in for another kiss. “Especially in that dress.” His kissed her again, sucking lightly on her lower lip. His hand ran up her leg, over the knee and slowly up her thigh, underneath the shirt. As his hand moved higher, his mouth went lower, trailing down her neck. She moaned softly, as his fingers just about reached their destination.

A swooshing sound alerted them to a door opening and he immediately jumped to his feet, while Katrina took a moment longer to get out of the chair.

Most of the tour group that entered seemed to barely notice them, thankfully. However, one man broke away from the group. “I would have done the same thing,” he told them, which a chuckle. “In fact, I was planning to find out how this one feels myself, before I get one of my own.” He held out his hand. “Captain Robert April, soon to be of the USS _Enterprise_.”

Gabriel and Katrina both introduced themselves and chatted for a few moments, before tactfully making their retreat and getting into a turbolift.

“That was close,” she said once the doors closed.

“Yeah, it was.”

She reached for his hand. “Kind of exciting though…”

A moment later, the turbolift doors opened, revealing an empty corridor. Gabriel held onto her hand and led her down it, until finally stopping in front of one of the doors.

Katrina looked at the sign on the door, then at him, eyebrows raised. “Aren’t we a little old for this?”

“Never! Come on, Kat, think of it as reliving our misspent youth.”

She looked at him and he could see the gears in her mind churning one thought after a next. This time, he wasn’t sure if she was going to say yes … not until she opened the door and pulling him in after her.

More than one group passed by that supply room before the two of them emerged again, ready to finally conclude their own, personal tour.


End file.
